press release

Paris, 19 October 2015 – On Monday afternoon, members of the European Parliament's LIBE Committee will vote on the Dati report on the “prevention of radicalisation and recruitment of European citizens by terrorist organisations”. This report contains dangerous provisions, which aim to make online platforms and hosts responsible for the distribution of messages glorifying terrorism, creating a high risk of pre-emptive censorship. Such provisions severely threaten European citizens' freedom of speech.

Paris, 6 October 2015 — By a decision published this morning, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the highest European jurisdiction, repealed the Safe Harbor agreement. This agreement in effect since 2000, allows data transfers between Europe and the United States under different versions, authorised the processing of European citizens' data by US companies, with fewer guarantees than those existing in Europe. Max Schrems, an Austrian citizen, has put Facebook on trial since the monitoring by the NSA of his data hosted by Facebook had an impact on his freedom and privacy. The CJEU today confirmed his viewpoint by invalidating the Safe Harbor and held that the European Commission abused its power by approving it. The CJEU also affirmed that a local data protection authority may dissent a European agreement if guarantees granted to citizens were modified.

Paris, 30 September 2015 — The Commission of Defence of the French Lower Chamber has massively rejected all amendments presented by Laure de La Raudière, Lionel Tardy and Sergio Coronado (in the group EELV) and will only keep amendments on procedure (fr). Patricia Adam, President of the Commission of Defence, and Rapporteur of the bill, is not even trying to hide her interest to silence any eventual discussion on the regulation of international surveillance and the huge violation of Human Rights introduced by it.

Paris, 30th September 2015 — The review of the bill related to international electronic communications surveillance measures will insidiously start on the 1st October 2015. It can already expect a bright future, made of flash reviews and hurried debates. After the censorship by the French Constitutional Council, which cut off its general approach on international intelligence, this text claims to fill the void and provide "key progress": the regulation of foreign intelligence activities.

Open letter sent by civil rights groups worldwide against the Surveillance Bill to be adopted in France.

Paris, 24 September 2015 — The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) published on 23rd September his conclusions in the case "Maximilian Schrems against Data Protection Commissioner". The Advocate General, Yves Bot, recommends an invalidation of the Safe Harbor agreement which regulates the transfer of personal data of European citizens by online services like Facebook, to the United States. The Advocate General considers that the surveillance carried out by US intelligence services hinders fundamental rights of European citizens. La Quadrature du Net welcomes these clear and protective conclusions, and hopes that the EU Court of Justice will have the courage to follow him in challenging Safe Harbor as demanded by civil society since the first Snowden revelations. Additionally, putting Safe Harbour aside, his analysis of the NSA's practices should also apply to mass surveillance by European governments, such as France.

Paris, 16 September 2015 — After yesterday's announcement by the French government that the bill on International Surveillance will be discussed on a fast track procedure, the bill was adopted this morning at the Defence Committee by the French Lower Chamber in only twenty minutes and without almost any debate. A French and American lawyer has just legally challenged the National Commission of Control of Security Interceptions (CNCIS, French Surveillance Watchdog) regarding the secret implementing decree of 2008. Could it be that the French government is worried about opening up its surveillance practices?

Paris, 16th September 2015 — The main pending issues for the European Data Protection Regulation will be discussed on 16th and 17th September during the coming trialogue meeting. The latest proposals from the Council visibly aim at limiting the guarantees provided to the users in favor of private lobbies.

Paris, 15th September 2015 — After the French Constitutional Council censored measures on international surveillance in the Surveillance Law voted last June, the government fires back with a bill that will be discussed at the end of September in the National Assembly. La Quadrature du Net strongly rejects the unacceptable clauses which would launch an “intelligence war” against our European and international partners.

Paris, 3rd September 2015 — Today, the non-profit ISPs FDN and the FDN Federation as well as La Quadrature du Net announced the introduction of two legal challenges before the French Council of State against the Internet surveillance activities of French foreign intelligence services (DGSE). As the French government plans the introduction of a new bill on international surveillance, these challenges underline the need for a thorough oversight of surveillance measures.

Paris, 30 July 2015 – On 23th July, the French Constitutional Council adopted a historical decision, standing out by its disregard for individual freedoms, right to privacy and freedom of speech. The "elders" have decided to avoid a real analysis of the proportionality of the new surveillance laws, and have shown their will to not stand in the way of the political game, becoming a mere rubber-stamping chamber.

Update (24 July 2015): The French Constitutional Council shows again its disregard for fundamental rights. This morning, after approving almost all dispositions in the Surveillance law, the Constitutional Council builds momentum by rejecting the Question Prioritaire de Constitutionalité1 handed by La Quadrature du Net, FDN and FDN Federation on the 2014-2019 Defence Law as a whole.

The Constitutional Council considered that "the legislator has sufficiently defined connection data, which cannot be related to the content of the communication or to the consulted information". As such, the notion of "information and documents" found in the Surveillance law, as well as in the 2014-2019 Defence Law, stays blurry.

Moreover, the Constitutional Council, which yesterday approved very weak dispositions concerning the protection of professional secrets for lawyers and confidentiality of sources, confirmed this morning that confidentiality of correspondence is only related to the content of said communications, hence sweeping away the notion of secret of sources for journalists.

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Paris, 23 July 2015 — By validating almost all surveillance measures provided in the Surveillance Law adopted on 25 June, the French Constitutional Council legalises mass surveillance and endorses a historical decline in fundamental rights. Algorithmic black boxes have been approved. Only international surveillance has been deemed to be non compliant to the Constitution.

1. The QPC is a procedure in French Law system to control the constitutionality of the laws after they are promulgated.

Paris, 16 July 2015 — European Parliament's ITRE commission endorses the compromise adopted during the trialogue on 30 June regarding the regulation on telecommunications. Despite the improvements brought to the text compared to the Council's version, the regulation still contains loopholes and inaccuracies that could violate people's and SME's rights.

Paris, 15 July 2015 — La Quadrature du Net strongly condemns the attempts to intimidate the German website Netzpolitik, accused of treason by the German court for publishing documents revealing the extension of Internet surveillance by the German secret services. La Quadrature du Net supports the German activists being pressured by the authorities for defending fundamental freedoms.

Paris, 8 July 2015 — On Thursday 9 July, the European Parliament will vote on its own-initiative report on copyright reform, proposed by MEP Julia Reda. The report has been widely picked apart due to pressure from industry lobbies and right-holders, but is set to go forward without any major change. La Quadrature du Net calls on MEPs to be on their guard concerning certain points that could be raised during the vote, especially the right to hyperlink, the right of panorama, or public domain.